FanHouse Mock 3.0, Owen Daniels talks, and shameless self-promotion

Well, the FanHouse Mock 3.0 was just completed, and for the Houston Texans with the 20th pick, I chose…..

Earl Thomas, Texas.

I know I keep saying I don’t think he will be available at 20, but in this particular mock he was.

I also wonder if the Texans pick him if he is actually available at 20. If unit performance is the guide, the Texans have a bigger need on defense than offense, but allegedly, the Texans pick by best player available, though in the Kubiak era, that happens to have corresponded with their view of #1 need.

[Some Longhorn fans will have a fit if he is available and the Texans either trade down or don't pick him. See e.g. Derrick Johnson (2005), Vince Young (2006). The Texans have drafted three Texas players in their short history, and never in a high round: Frank Okam (2008, 5th), Kasey Studdard (2007, 6th), and Sloan Thomas (2004, 7th). I worry about including these fun facts for fear that this blog post will get derailed into some sort of weird Longhorn/Aggie thing. For the record, Kubiak's staff has a good relationship with the Texas staff, and I don't think there is any weird Aggie anti-Texas bias on this staff no matter what tin foil hatters might think. Oh, and I'm a Texas alum so I don't have any weird anti-Texas bias either. As a Texan fan, I just want the best NFL prospects on the team].

In any event, looking at how this particular Mock Draft went, do you go for Earl Thomas at that spot or a different direction?

More Texans Draft Talk to Chew On…

Over at Battle Red Blog, Rivers McCown did a nice Texans-specific interview with Scott Wright of NFL Draft Countdown. Go give that a read and tell me your thoughts. Very interesting thoughts on the defensive tackle position, and how deep he believes this draft is. I think the depth of this draft is all about the exodus of underclassmen trying to get paid before their is a possible rookie salary cap.

If you enjoy commenting here, I suggest also registering for Battle Red Blog too if you haven’t already because their comment thread is pretty fun. Registration is easy, and the writers over at BRB are fun peoples.

No real surprises there. He mentions that this is his third time going through ACL repair. His injury of last year was to his right ACL, and previously, he had a ACL tear of his left knee his senior year in high school in 2000, and a ACL/MCL tear of his left knee in a college scrimmage in 2002.

In another article, he mentions that his injury may have been a blessing in disguise getting more playing time for TEs Joel Dressen and James Casey.

And Shameless Self-Promotion

The Houston Press, in their cover article called “Blog Stars” was kind enough to list me as one of the 10 Houston bloggers who “rock their world.”

I don’t know how they could pick just ten because I think there’s a ton of great blogs in the Houston area (and growing), and I was surprised being included on this list. I was told they didn’t pick any blogs that were adjunct to a writer’s role in the media, because they figured people already knew about those blogs.

We will have to send various bloggers through Sylvester McMonkey McBean’s mechanical machine to put stars on thars. Allusion here:

I’d like to use this space for people to make some Houston blog recommendations in the comments. Some blogs that people might not know about but should. We’ve done book recommendations here, and I’d love to get some blog recommendations. I’ve already checked out a number of blogs in that article I wasn’t familiar with and am happy that I did.

The article contains links to the blogs, but doesn’t contain various Twitter account names. Very eclectic list, but y’all are pretty eclectic, so go check them out. Here’s the Twitter accounts that I know of: @kuff@offthekuff@markwbennett@lmayes@thebloggess@houstoncalling@swamplot@htownchowdown@bluejeangourmet and me @stephstradley. (Do not under any circumstances look for me @texanschick. That’s not me. Apparently the page is dead now, but at the time I tried to sign up for it, it was what appeared to be a large, scantily clad black woman who was hitting on random dudes. I repeat, that is not me).

Thank yous to nice peoples.

In any event, I would like to take the opportunity of the article to thank various people. It’s not like an Academy Award of anything, but I’m someone that believes in telling people that I appreciate them when there is any random, good opportunity that provides it. Those who knew Texan fanblogger Thomas Hilton to any degree know that every day is a good day to tell people that you appreciate them.

First, I’d like to thank you as readers for being encouraging of my writing, whether it be facts or opinion, silly or serious, or very very random. Blogging is one of the few writing mediums that provides immediate feedback, and I very much appreciate the community of people who take the time to comment here. I learn things every day, whether from you directly, or when finding information during the process of writing. I think the quality of the comments in this blog help make it a better place.

I’d also like to thank a lot of people in the Texans fan community. Vinny, the administrator of TexansTalk.com, and the moderators and commenters of that site and the previous site who encouraged the things I was writing over time, and made me feel braver about sharing them with more people. I also want to thank various people I’ve met from tailgating, events, other Texan blogs and from games. It’s great to know such a generous community of fans.

In addition, I’d like to thank various people at the Houston Chronicle, both those who are still at the paper, and who have left who have been very encouraging of the blog. For a blogger, I am a bit of a luddite, and I’m not sure I’d ever would be writing anything if I had to put together a site from scratch. I love newspapers, and I read the paper edition of the Chronicle from cover to cover every day during breakfast. In my mind, supporting the local newspaper is like supporting your community. That means, supporting the Houston Press too, which obviously gets a thanks.

I thank Dean Colleen Grissom of Trinity University who found my undergraduate writing entertaining though too adjectivey and passive. She told me in her supportive, direct, funny way that it was a waste that I went to law school. Now, she probably thinks it is a waste I write a Houston Texans blog. (But then again, as I recall, she is a big believer of people not being afraid to follow their passions because of what other people think of what they are doing. If she were reading this, she would want me to edit unnecessary words and use fewer parentheticals).

There’s tons of other people I’d like to thank too–other media people and tons of bloggers–but this is getting silly. I have to thank Bob McNair and everyone who helped for getting the NFL back in Houston where it belongs. When there was no team in Houston, the NFL was no fun to me, and it’s been good having a rooting interest again. I know people are tired thanking Mr. McNair or say it was just a prudent business decision etc etc, but somebody had to be amiable and loaded enough to get this done, and I am happy he is the non-birdflipping guy who was able to do it.

And of course, thanks are not finished unless you thank your family. Blogging takes time. If you talk to bloggers about what they do, often they talk about how they fit their time for their writing in their schedule, and how sometimes that becomes a problem with their family.

I thank my husband and my kids for being accommodating to my unusual sideline, and I strongly suggest that if you, your friends or family have any serious legal issues, to contact my husband’s law firm (or keep his number in your wallet for an emergency). If it’s not the sort of legal matter his firm handles, perhaps they can direct you to somebody who does. Yep, that’s some obvious and crass self-promotion right there, but for complete disclosure, if he gets business, it makes it much easier for me to spend time doing this fun stuff. Well, that, and he is good at what he does which is exactly what you want if you run into some serious legal problems.

I thank my parents and siblings too, in particular my mom because that’s what people in the NFL do, and I like to pretend. My English-teaching mom, like Dean Grissom, would also agree that this blog post needs a good edit.

Lots of stuff to talk about…draft, draft, OD, Houston blog suggestions, gratuitous self-promotion, thank yous. Have at it, and thank you for reading this far. I’m trying to make up for being on vacation last week.

16 Responses

Oddly I had an opportunity to thank someone today and did so before even reading this. Odd that is.

Earl Thomas at 20, ok.

I get it, you won a blog stars award, which of course you deserve, and you’re thanking a bunch of people just like you won an academy award.

That’s more news than the NFL tweeking overtime.

[Oh, and here's some more news about changing where the umpire stands for calling holding. Here's a nice post explaining what the change will likely mean: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/03/22/zebra-report-umpires-in-the-backfield/ I'm guessing that it will slightly effect teams like the Texans who likely designed plays that used the umpire as a bit of a pick (but not obviously). -Steph]

Let´s hope we get that pick! Congrats on being noticed as one of the best, it´s well deserved, but they totally overlooked your short video on the meaning of the name Titans, which will go down as one of your more serious and insightful projects.

[I will have to put together a favorite blog post link for new (and old) readers. -S]

Solid pick Steph. I don’t think Thomas will be there either, but if he is you have to pick him. A FS who can drop down and play the nickel corner has a ton of value for a team that plays against both run first and pass first teams.

Oh, and you forgot to thank God, the Academy, and all the little people.

Thomas would be a steal for the Texans, but as you and the previous commenter Coop said, he probably won’t be available. If he is gone do you think the Texans will take Matthews over the top CB available? I think the need in the secondary outweighs the temptation to take a RB with the first pick. How do you see the first 2-3 Texans pick playing out?……..and a hearty congrats for the blog top tenner.

[That's pretty much the question. I'm not sure how the Texans see relative value. Under Kubiak, they've considered picking running back high but never have taken corner high. Maybe with Dunta gone that changes. Or maybe they don't believe they have to go first round for corner, or even running back for that matter. If the Texans had a time eating running back that could consistently get positive yards, that's just as good as a defensive pick. And running backs tend to have a quicker impact than some other positions on the field, including corner. This year's pick is much more wide open than last year's, I think. -Steph]

Steph I’ve been reading ur blog forever but never posted till now, on that note E. Thomas would be a fantastic pick at 20…can u imagine hard hitting Pollard and the speed of Thomas in the back end of our D! Keep up the GREAT work Steph and Go Texans!

“If the Texans had a time eating running back that could consistently get positive yards, that’s just as good as a defensive pick.”

This is my thought exactly. A running back that can reliably get first downs (and touchdowns) in short yardage situations would help the defense immensely. Ironically, he might actually reduce the total offensive yardage by eating clock and reducing total possessions.

In a division with Payton Manning, the ability to keep the ball and punch it into the end zone is just as important as one more rookie corner. Mathews would be a great first round choice. The fact that Spiller is more than 20 pounds lighter means that I’m not convinced he would be as good a choice for the Texans…

In order, I’d prefer Mathews, Haden or Thomas. Mathews is probably the only one of the three who will be available, but he immediately fills a huge need that helps both sides of the ball.

I had already read elsewhere that ODs season-ending injury last year was his third knee injury,

stunning to me when in retrospect I look back to him playing hard-ball last-year with the Texans during the 2009 offseason about a new contract already having the history of 2 season-ending knee injuries.

Last year during the off-season he was dealing from a position of strength, now he’s coming back from his third knee, looking at a Texans’ roster with 2 more TEs since the 2009 Draft, and facing all of the uncertainty of an NFL without a CBA.

Somebody needed to get with young Owen last year and say “boy, get the best deal you can while you’re fit and in good health coming off of your

Pro bowl year”, because you won’t be in the NFL for ever and you can use all those millions later in your life. Well nobody gave him that advice,

or maybe they did and here he is today in this position because he declined to take it.

As a Longhorn fan- Sure I’d love to see Longhorns be successful as Texans. Successful being the imperative word.

Don’t draft a guy just cuz. It’s setting him up to fail when/if he doesn’t meet expectations. Clearly the Texans know better. Charlie Casserly once opined that the best thing he could do for Chris Simms was to pass him over for that Louisville kid that didn’t pan out (forget his name.)

That said- a butt kicking ‘Horn would be awesome.

As always- thanks for doin’ what you do.

[Thanks. Dave Ragone, left handed quarterback. Very very nice guy, but it is a total Casserly move to draft a guy you like without caring how he fits on your team--why would you draft a left-handed QB to develop as a backup or to trade? Because you grade him as good value in the 3rd round? If a guy doesn't fit your team, what's the point of drafting him at all? "Value" without looking at system/coaching fit is garbage. At this point, you are likely saying some derivative of "amen." -Steph]

Congrats on being named a Houston blog star. When I first clicked the link to this blog, I wondered how many football blogs the Chronicle really needed. Once I read the first one, I was hooked, and it wasn’t long before I was commenting often, whether I had something to say or just had to say something.

As for the mock drafts, I thought it was interesting to see the thinking of the people picking. Some seemed to be focused on what the team they were selecting for should do, while others were thinking more about what they would do. Hopefully that is the same thing in the Texans case. The Texans have enough need positions that they should have no trouble making a solid selection in round 1. Of course, with multiple need positions, we will also have plenty of chances to second guess their pick.

[Thanks. I find this draft very very interesting. There are so many good players that you could see going to a number of spots and fit. I'm guessing we see more trades given the three day nature of the draft. Does anyone have a good link with the number of picks each team has in 2010 with compensatories added? Those teams with fewer picks but lots of needs may be particularly good candidates for trade downs. -Steph]

I’d need weeks of therapy and a handle of Wild Turkey to take the wind out of my rampant hopes that Earl Thomas will be on the board when we pick. As a Coog, I’m perfectly comfortable with unreasonable expectations and the aftermath of heartbreak (and occasional elation) that they bring. I’m not a fan of drafting a RB in the first because so many teams overpay for them and their careers are so short. Besides, O-line is more important to clock management and red zone efficiency. That said, I’ve softened on my anti-Spiller stance in the past week. If he falls, he might have too much upside for the Texans to pass.

Thanks for the BRB link. I think the depth of this draft will motivate a number of teams to try and get extra picks by trading down. If Thomas and Iupati are gone, I’d expect the Texans to be one of those teams. To revisit my tangent above, Spiller being on the board may be the perfect bait to coax somebody into paying over the TVC for our #20.

Other blogs of note: Guns and Tacos It’s about guns and tacos. Jay has been spending too much time getting beat down by luchadors and partying at “Status” with Chingo Bling to blog, but @GunsandTacos is a strong Twitter follow.

Fourth and Fifty Coog-centric Houston sports satire. Call it Kissing Dominique Sachse. Look for Opponent Essentials posts during football season. That is, if they return this fall.

The Loop Scoop Great loop snob blog. It could be better with more commenter interaction, but it’s the best resource for intra-loop doings and events. Plus, their blogroll has more quality Houston blogs than I’ll ever have time to go through.

[Thanks for all those great links. Looking at all the young players on the team who are still developing and taking up roster space, it makes you wonder if this is a year they decide they need to trade up. If CB is a dire need and a quality dependable play making RB is a dire need, and you already have a bunch of young guys you are developing, do they fall in love with some guys high in the draft they think can be difference makers? I don't think that happens, Smithiak hasn't done that, but you never know. -Steph]

I say, if Earl Thomas is available we absolutely must pick him. DT, and RB can be found in later rounds but a talent like Thomas can not. I only say this because I still believe in Slaton, and Foster. Lets just have faith in Kubiak and company!

Speaking of blogs and shameless promotion. Check out theloopscoop.com

[I did check it out on an earlier recommendation. I love its about us page: "We have an overwhelming love for Houston. It deserves it's own identity, good reputation and a fair shake. Houston is a city full of unique places, events and people." I love Houston too. Love it, love it, love it. I truly believe it is the friendliest big city in America. -Steph]

I never could understand Casserly drafting a guy to trade later year after year so he could eventually build a team whenever he decided to. What did those guys need, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs, wide receivers, running backs, and a quarterback. Sure there was plenty of time to get clever.

I also much prefer our average offense and improving defense over the previous bunch’s conservative chuck and suck gang, or 2 yards and a cloud of wishful thinking, open down field wide receiver wherefore art thou?

The only thing that keeps me from going on full fledged snaggle toothed burnt orange bichathon is the fact that this is your blog Stephanie and a most of the time I think you’re ok, not that what I think pays the cover charge at Starbucks on Monday morning after the Super Bowl.

The uncertain future wrt the CBA, may hamper draft position movement, or be a source of temporary insanity.

Sometimes you just gotta be yourself, smashed eggshells and all.

Adios Gonova girls, slow dancing was created with thee in mind. I hope your school finally figures out how to get that old Nova to go.

Much better now.

[Whenever I think of the Casserly years, I think of the scene from the classic movie "Gumball Rally" where the Italian driver pulls the rear view mirror off, throws it away and says "Whatza behind me izz not important." /going obscure in your honor. -Steph]